Guest Post #2: Steve Carmody, friend of the Doctors

Recently, my old friend Steve sold merchandise at a Dr. Dog show at the Mid East in Boston. I asked him to write a post, and instead he wrote a novel. So here’s a sample of the night:

I walk up to introduce myself, and Toby Leaman (the bassist) is first to extend the welcoming notion. Soon after, Scott McMicken (guitar/vocals) and Frank are meeting me too, with Juston Stens (drums/vocals) and Zach Miller (keyboard/vocals) close behind to say hello. We’re sitting around, and Scott says to me, “I’m thinking of setting up the merch’ table real soon, but I’m gonna smoke a cigarette first. Do you smoke?” I’m not a huge smoker, but of course I accept and we go out to the alleyway behind the building to smoke a butt. We get to talking, about their time on Conan recently (to which Scott and I both share in the excitement of that moment at the end of “Worst Trip” when Conan comes over and says, “That’s how its done!”), about their new publicist in NYC who got them the gig, about staying in strange, welcoming college housing from city to city, about how I got into the band recently much thanks to Benjy Brooke, about Benjy seeing Scott biking by one day (he’s pretty sure that it was him), and I just feel so welcomed to be around these kindly, laid-back guys.

* * * *

Dr. Dog finally takes the stage (now around 11:30), and the crowd goes wild. All the lights go off on the stage, and a rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner, in wonderful a capella harmony, belts out as the now-drunken, excited crowd sings along. Then My Old Ways comes on, and everyone goes absolutely wild for these guys.

* * * *

With the concert over, the crowd swarms to buy more merch, or take some of the free stickers and buttons and posters. I got Scott and Toby (the only band members that I could find) to sign a poster for Benjy. If you get a chance, sometime look for the drunken scrawl of Toby trying to write “Thanks”, or Scott’s goofy “double-vision” rendition of “BENJI”.

Dr. Dog – Wake Up
Dr. Dog – ABCs
Dr. Dog – The Way the Lazy Do

-Steve Carmody